Pastorious, german immigrant who found germantown pa

1. DellaPia 1
German Experience into America
Final Project
Make Way for Pastorius
“Education is not received, it is achieved,” Albert Einstein.1
“Education is the
most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world,” Nelson Mandela.2
“Education is key to unlock the golden door of freedom,” George Washington
Carver.3
The aforementioned leading men believed in the power of education. Similarly,
Francis Daniel Pastorius embodied these indelible standards. He grew up in a wealthy
family in Sommerhausen, Germany. Born on September 26, 1651 and dying early
January 1720, he was a very well educated man with desires to lead while in search of
a better life.
A German Lutheran, aristocrat, Pastorius studied Latin as a child. Moreover, he
spent over 20 years in formal education. From 1668 to 1675, he attended four different
universities.4
. First, he entered the Nurnberg University of Altdorf, where he studied
theology.5
Secondly, he attended the University of Strassburg, where he learned the
1
http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/topics/topic_education.html
2
http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/topics/topic_education.html
3
http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/topics/topic_education.html
4
http://www2.hsp.org/collections/manuscripts/p/Pastorius0475.html
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classics.6
His third area of study was at the University of Basel. Although he only
attended lectures here and did not formally enroll himself as a student, he learned
various, diverse languages.7
In addition, he became familiar with and wrote fluently in
German, Italian, French, Dutch, Spanish, Greek and Latin. 8
Finally, he went to the
University of Jena, where he studied law and eventually received his doctorate.9
After
finishing his education, he ran a law practice at Windsheim until 1679 when he moved
to Frankfurt to start a new practice.10
After he relocated to Frankfurt, he soon became a
teacher at the University of Frankfurt and taught law. While he was at Frankfurt,
Pastorius wrote many poems reflecting his thoughts on religion and politics.11
Pastorius had a close-knit group of friends that were dear to him in
Frankfurt. Finding friends was not a hard thing for him to do. Being the passionate,
devout religious man, Francis Pastorius became friends with an influential pastor. As
his mentor, Dr. Heinrich Horb introduced him to Pietism.12
A religious movement
reacting to formalism and intellectualism while stressing the Bible, Pietism was the
reason for Pastorius’ movement. Pastorius began his undertaking in the west of
6
http://www2.hsp.org/collections/manuscripts/p/Pastorius0475.html
7
http://www2.hsp.org/collections/manuscripts/p/Pastorius0475.html
8
Marion Dexter Learned, The Life of Francis Daniel Pastorius, the Founder of Germantown (Philadelphia: William J. Campbell,
1908)
9
http://www2.hsp.org/collections/manuscripts/p/Pastorius0475.html
10
http://www2.hsp.org/collections/manuscripts/p/Pastorius0475.html
11
Marion Dexter Learned, The Life of Francis Daniel Pastorius, the Founder of Germantown (Philadelphia: William J. Campbell,
1908)
12
http://www2.hsp.org/collections/manuscripts/p/Pastorius0475.html

3. DellaPia 3
Europe, France, then made his way east in Switzerland and finally ended in Germany.
Years and years of Pastorius’ plan to start a movement allowed for little progress. Then,
Pastorius went to England where he met an English real estate entrepreneur that had a
huge impact on his life. William Penn already had discovered Philadelphia and went to
England for mainly advertisement purposes to sell land. When they met, Pastorius told
Penn about his movement and how he wanted to get people to follow along. Penn
immediately told him that Europe is no place for that movement and directed him to
come to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Pastorius grabbed his close friends from Frankfurt
for added support and benefit and brought them to America.
Francis Daniel Pastorius arrived in Philadelphia August 20, 1683. He was
situated between the Schuylkill River and the Delaware River.13
When he arrived there,
he and his Frankfurt associates organized themselves as the first German Company,
and later, the name was changed to the Frankfurt Land Company.14
On June 20, 1683,
Pastorius bought 15,000 acres of land from William Penn as a settlement of Quakers
and Mennonites. 15
After he bought this land, it took some time for him to recruit people
to come to his land. It wasn’t until October 24, 1683 when he finally came up with a
name for his land, Germanpolis, in Latin, translates as “a city of Germany”.16
This name
13
http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/21519
14
http://www.ushistory.org/germantown/people/pastorius.htm
15
http://www.ushistory.org/germantown/people/pastorius.htm
16
http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/21519

4. DellaPia 4
soon lost its identity and people began to slant its pronunciation as, what it is presently
known as today, Germantown. He immediately associated himself with the Quakers
who lived near Philadelphia. The primary reason for this was due to his affiliation with
William Penn. When people began to notice his close alliance with Penn and observed
his deep religious beliefs and well-educated background, he immediately gained respect
and influence among the Germantown settlers and the Quaker elite.17
All of the respect
and influence he was receiving lead him to the love of a woman by the name of Anneke
Klostermann. She was the daughter of Dr. Klostermann, who was one of the first
Germantown settlers during this era.18
Francis and Anneke married on November 26,
1686.19
Pastorius made a family with Anneke and they raised two sons, John and
Henry.
All of the hard work Pastorius put into Germantown labeled him to be one of the
greatest model citizens of his time. Because of his reputable style of living,
Germantown became more popular. German immigrants would choose Germantown as
their settling grounds before any other place in North America.20
Pastorius was the glue
to Germantown; he functioned as the lawgiver, spiritual leader, and town’s clerk. He
even found himself as the primary master teacher of Germantown’s school in which the
17
http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/21519
18
http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/21519
19
http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/21519
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http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/21519

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lessons were conducted in English. Pastorius began to be so well known with his
teaching skills that parents would send their children from places other than
Germantown for him to teach them. William Penn commissioned him as justice of the
peace in 1684.21
In addition, he was elected as Germantown’s first bailiff in 1691.22
Pastorius was very proud of Germantown .The citizens adapted to the American culture
while staying true to their original German heritage. Pastorius had a profound belief in
the importance of adapting to one’s circumstance. With a letter, he wanted to remind his
sons “each of you are an Anglus Natus an Englishman at Birth. Therefore, it would be
ashamed for you if you should be ignorant of the English Tongue.” 23
At William Penn’s
request, Pastorius, being the main promoter of Germantown, wrote a widely circulated
pamphlet in 1700 entitled, “A Particular Geographical Description of the Lately
Discovered Province of Pennsylvania”.24
This letter was profound by bringing many of
its readers to emigrate to the colony.
Pastorius also lead in the cause of slavery in America. He drafted the first
protest against slavery while living in Germantown. He and three other men wrote it and
21
http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/21519
22
http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/21519
23
Marion Dexter Learned, The Life of Francis Daniel Pastorius, the Founder of Germantown (Philadelphia: William J. Campbell,
1908)
24
http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/21519

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sent to the tiny Friends Meeting in Germantown in 1688.25
By all standards the
Germantown protest failed. Nevertheless, the seed had been planted. In 1696, the
Yearly Meeting publication said how Friends Meeting in Germantown encouraged to not
purchase any more Negroes.26
In 1730, the Yearly Meeting declared new slave
purchases to be disagreeable. Friends Meeting in Germantown were well ahead of the
general population in acknowledging the evil of slavery.27
By the time of the Revolution,
slave holding was ended among Friends.
The proud historical heritage that began more than 300 years ago has shaped
Germantown with its own identity. Francis Daniel Pastorius was the German leader,
counselor, lawyer, teacher and conveyance for his countrymen. His education was
considered one of the best of his times and a precursor to the path he took to lead. This
path has lead him to the discovery of Pennsylvania’s jewel conveniently named
Germantown.
25
Marion Dexter Learned, The Life of Francis Daniel Pastorius, the Founder of Germantown (Philadelphia: William J. Campbell,
1908)
26
Marion Dexter Learned, The Life of Francis Daniel Pastorius, the Founder of Germantown (Philadelphia: William J. Campbell,
1908)
27
Marion Dexter Learned, The Life of Francis Daniel Pastorius, the Founder of Germantown (Philadelphia: William J. Campbell,
1908)

7. DellaPia 7
Bibliography
"Education Quotes." BrainyQuote. Xplore, n.d. Web. 06 May
2014.http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/topics/topic_education.html

8. DellaPia 8
"Francis Daniel Pastorius Papers." 0475. N.p., n.d. Web. 06 May
2014.http://www2.hsp.org/collections/manuscripts/p/Pastorius0475.html
"Pastorius, Francis Daniel." Pastorius, Francis Daniel. N.p., n.d. Web. 06 May
2014.http://myweb.wvnet.edu/~jelkins/lp-2001/pastorius.html
"Francis Daniel Pastorius." Ushistory.org. Independence Hall Association, n.d.
Web. 06 May 2014.http://www.ushistory.org/germantown/people/pastorius.htm
"Francis Pastorius." Francis Pastorius. N.p., n.d. Web. 06 May
2014.http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/21519
Learned, Marion Dexter, and Samuel W. Pennypacker. The Life of Francis
Daniel Pastorius, the Founder of Germantown: Illustrated with Ninety Photographic
Reproductions. Philadelphia: W.J. Campbell, 1908. Print.